Tata Zest : Official Review

This is a discussion on Tata Zest : Official Review within Official New Car Reviews, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Fantastic review, Aditya (and Rehaan). Delighted and surprised to see top notch, classy and attractive interiors. Looks very neat, precise ...

Fantastic review, Aditya (and Rehaan). Delighted and surprised to see top notch, classy and attractive interiors. Looks very neat, precise and chic ! I find the rear design to be contemporary, front still appears a bit archaic.

I couldn't find your observations on fuel efficiency during the test drive. Any indications ? Also the boot appears a bit cramped for commercial (airport drops) ops. Either way, it appears to be a giant leap forward for Tata, though i guess the badge itself seems to be a dampener.

I passed by a Zest yesterday at my nearby mall and felt the urge to check it out thoroughly for myself, felt very slightly cheesed off that I couldn't since the Zest really has caught my eye. It's a quantum leap ahead for Tata and the early pictures of it were really eye-opening in terms of what to expect.

Reading the review has filled me in on the Zest without so much as coming within 5 meters of it! Fantastic detail and a thoroughly enjoyable review.

The Zest will be a game-changer, no doubt about it. Diesel automatics are hard to come by and this one, if priced below 10 lakhs, will change the equation for everyone else. The car market in India really is getting democratized, what with the Celerio launching the AMT and forcing everyone to follow suit. The Zest will do well, I am sure of it. Tata cannot muck up marketing the Zest no matter how hard they try, surely. This is a car people have been waiting for, an affordable diesel auto will be lapped up, and there is enough signs to say that the Zest should revive Tata's fortunes big time.

Excellent Review. Thank you for such a detailed review. Makes every other review pale in comparison.

Reading the review and looking at the pictures made me wonder more than once- What a fantastic job they have done. As an AT convert, glad that someone has finally kicked of the diesel AT trend below 10L.

The Dzire may be too high up to bother, but with the Zest and the Xcent, I think the Amaze will feel the heat.

Overall the feel is positive about Zest. As a happy ex-Tata Owner, I am glad.
Five pages of response within hours of review shows eagerness about Zest! (Me included).

Personally I am unhappy with turning radius of 5.1m, because my parking slot is really tight. Perhaps I should stick to Xcent on this factor. I am happy with everything else in the review as I am not a "enthusiast" driver.

Amazing, the review is a feast, quite brilliant in terms of attention to detail. For an average Joe in market, I bet he can never notice a minimum of 50 % of details and their usage mentioned in review.

Coming to the meat of the matter, it might be little early to comment that TATA had a winner in hands with the prices unannounced, but seriously, a sub 4m sedan is generally considered as value for money proposition, but features and options wise it's nothing but a hatch with an extending boot is what I personally felt.

But, Looking at Zest, I'm really excited the way TATA had pushed their engineering department to a level above. TATA had cracked it by offering AMT on an Oil burner, under a sub 4m sedan, which I believe will be one of its USP. With tried and tested Fiat's MJD in a higher state of tune, plus an AMT under a sub 4m sedan, Yeah, now talk about competition!

I feel the much talked revotron engine have lived up to the expectations. Might fill the gap between the naturally aspirated and TSIs. Again, pricing would be important here. Price it wisely, would surely push the market to explore a new segment totally. Congratulations TATA. Normally, all N.A petrol engines in this segment are compared against 1.2 K-series of Maruti as a bench mark. But happy to see no competition

Agreed, not the engines and transmissions alone will bring numbers home. Hope TATA would club their marketing and new service model strategy and offer a better after sales and service to make their new product stand as one among the market. Altogether, an average buyer would be quite happy with the product.

1. 1 cup holder which is positioned next to the 12v socket. This IMO is a design flaw.

In an Indian context i've never seen anyone actually use a cup in a cup holder. Its either a closed bottle, a cell-phone, loose change, or a sippy-cup like coffee mug - nonetheless, interesting point for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simple_car

If the buttons were in a place which were easily accessible, you are invariably looking at cases wherein people (their drivers more likely) who are constantly going to shuffle through the modes. I am pretty certain that overall it won't really damage the car in any way, but I wouldn't want anyone constantly shuffling through the modes.

Sorry but I don't agree with this at all. It is an electronic switch-over, so there's no question of wear and tear. And its a function that been designed to be used! If they didn't want people to keep changing it they would have hidden it deeper in the vehicle settings instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abirnale

I thought this is correct - red means, the windows are not locked and can be rolled down by kiddos in the back seat any time. Thats risky, hence red?

Logically yes, that's what the red light would imply - however, to expand on what we meant:

Most cars have all windows unlocked by default. A majority of drivers keep windows unlocked by default. So, having a red light constantly on there looks strange.

About the logic: If you look at the icon, it visually 'says' > "cancel window up/down". In other words, "window lock". When a light is ON on a button, it usually means that function is activated (eg. Sport mode).
In this case, its the opposite. When the light is on, the function that's depicted by the icon on the button is DE-activated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ishlinea7260

I came to know that TATA will skip AMT in the top end diesel. Is that true?
And did the officials mention anything about the Bolt at your drive event.?

They might not have a top-end AMT at launch, but my guess is that they will introduce it soon.
Nope, no real mention of the Bolt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by madhu33

This requires a simple tweak in the settings of the phone actually. It also depends on which android device we are talking about here.

We tried 2 android phones, and 3 different cars. I'm not saying it wont work at all, but it clearly has a low success rate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuvadips

Requesting someone to upload the cost comparison of Zest with its competitors.

This will be added when the pricing is announced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsurya

Revotron engine is 2nd best ONLY to VW Polo 1.2 TSi amongst all available hatchbacks & compact sedans.

It might be the 2nd best turbocharged 1.2 petrol in the market, but I wouldn't say its the 2nd best 1.2 (at least not from an enthusiast POV). Not sure what angle you're looking at being 'best' from though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atif

I spotted 2 zests being tested in Chennai tonight (Mahindra World City to Perungalathur Stretch). The cars had two badges with XT and F-tronics, so i presume that Tata will launch Zest diesel automatic in top variant as well

If it said XT + F-tronic, that doesn't seem to tally? It should have said XTA no?

Are you sure you didn't mistake the Revotron badge for an F-tronic badge?

Must say, one of the most impressive and thourough reviews of a new launch.

While Tata has made a huge leap forward with Zest launch, the unexpected leap (in attention to detail, quality, content) t-bhp reviewers keep making with each review deserves 5-star. Hats off to t-bhp for the committment, dediciation and hunger for excellence, take pride in being a member of such community.

Coming to the product itself, believe Tata has done remarkable work bringing lot of value/improvements while retaining it's age old USPs (cabin space, comfort, features on offer).

The shortcomings in Zest (cramped boot space, lack of storage space and bottle holders) should easily outweigh new additions, most of them first in it's class (Diesel AMT, Turbo Petrol, LED Lighting in/out, premium infortainment integrated with smart reverse parking system and bluetooth, steering mounted controls, etc etc)

The car being wider, taller and higher than the competition speaks of the utility it brings. The higher GC may lack in terms of appearance, but will be a boon in our roads filled with speed breakers. Those thick A pillars would definitely improve the safety.

Looking at the interior pictures, it is unbelievable that it is of a Tata vehicle. Tata has made an excellent job of making a complete and well integrated car. And there are no visible cutting corners. I am sure they have sourced superior quality of electricals, wiring, interconnects, etc. Somehow the car screams quality and durability!

I love what Tata has done to their newest offering. Looks fab from the front and back. My only grudge being the looks from the side - unmistakably Tata!

Pretty amazing what this compact sedan has to offer. And that too from the Tata stable. Big big surprise there! Tata has upped the ante and we can only expect the segment leaders to follow with similar feature-rich tech-laden offerings in the future.

It might be the 2nd best turbocharged 1.2 petrol in the market, but I wouldn't say its the 2nd best 1.2 (at least not from an enthusiast POV). Not sure what angle you're looking at being 'best' from though.

From the reviews I have read so far, Revotron would be the second best 1.2 petrol engine, turbocharged or not. VW 1.2TSi definitely best. Swift 1.2 is next, but has lower torque. Brio / Grand i10 engines next.

When I mean best, its a mix of performance, power delivery mode & economy; in that order.

Most cars have all windows unlocked by default. A majority of drivers keep windows unlocked by default. So, having a red light constantly on there looks strange.

About the logic: If you look at the icon, it visually 'says' > "cancel window up/down". In other words, "window lock". When a light is ON on a button, it usually means that function is activated (eg. Sport mode).
In this case, its the opposite. When the light is on, the function that's depicted by the icon on the button is DE-activated.

Exactly the same way in my Manza.
The red light glows indicating that the passengers have access to operate the windows which is good for me as i hate anyone fidgeting with the windows while cruising on the highways.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan

We tried 2 android phones, and 3 different cars. I'm not saying it wont work at all, but it clearly has a low success rate.

I think putting the phone in CAR MODE will make it work (after the Bluetooth pairing is done).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simple_car

@Aditya and Rehaan,

1. 1 cup holder which is positioned next to the 12v socket. This IMO is a design flaw. The cup holder is likely to hold some cup with liquid -----> which is inevitably going to spill in the socket (the fact that we travel through some perilous roads doesn't help), which will inturn most likely render it un-usable (maybe the fuse will blow or the unit will fry... I don't know).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan

In an Indian context i've never seen anyone actually use a cup in a cup holder. Its either a closed bottle, a cell-phone, loose change, or a sippy-cup like coffee mug - nonetheless, interesting point for sure.

Reproducing the pictures of my Manza's cup holder.
Even there the 12v socket is exactly placed next to the cup holder.
I am big green tea gulper and hardly remember driving to office without the green tea sipper(purchased from CCD for Rs270 around 2 years ago: Collector's series, it is called as travel sipper with flip type sip lid on the cap. It fits perfectly in the cup holder as if the cup holder is designed for it).
I have never ever faced the issue of any malfunctioning of the 12v port or any spillage (as the CCD sipper fits perfect).